Despite of, or perhaps because of, my lack of activity on here, I have actually managed to make quite a bit of progress on my book in the last week and a half or so. So much so that I even found time to paint, which is something I have missed doing. I am slowly learning to enjoy oil paints, which I would not have thought only a couple years ago.
Anyway, I have managed to write about two more sons of Japheth since my last update. After Magog, I continued with Madai. Now his name in that form may not look that familiar, but hopefully most people, especially those who have studied history, would recognize the Medes. The Medes were a people living in what is now modern day Iran, which also includes the territory of the Elamites, the Medes, and then later yet the Persians, who are simply relatives of the Medes. After a time, they took over their cousins’, the Babylonians, territory with the rise of Darius.
Perhaps you might ask, “But why is Madai in the Middle East? Isn’t he the son of Japheth?” Good question. Yes, he is a son of Japheth and yes he is in Shem’s territory. Time for a little review. After the Flood and the possibly the Tower of Babel event, Japheth was given all of the land to the north, Shem was given all of the land in the middle, and Ham was given all of the land to the south. Now if you think about this, that would mean that Japheth gets all of Europe and across; Shem Asia, the Middle east, and possibly a few other lands; and Ham Africa, Australia, and possibly some other lands that I have yet to prove with certainty. So what is Madai doing in the Middle East? As it turns out, according to the book of Jubilees, Madai married a daughter of Shem, making him the brother-in-law to Elam, son of Shem. Because of this, he asked Elam and some of the sons of Ham, who became Babylon, if he could have some land near his wife’s family. Thus, Madai became the Medes, north of the Elamites, who eventually together became the Medes and the Persians. While that is really oversimplifying the events, this is the gist of what happened, and the rest is history.
Of course, this can only leads to the downfall of the Medes and the Persians with the Greeks. This is where Javan, the fourth son of Japheth, takes the stage. Thankfully, he actually went to where he was supposed to go, which was to all of the isles of the sea. Basically, when you go back far enough, nearly all of the northern coast lands of the Mediterranean Sea were at one point settled by the descendants of Javan, even Italy and Spain. Though all of the lands were at different point dominated by other groups – Italy the descendants of Tubal and others, and Spain Tubal and the Gomerites – they have some roots to these maritime people. Also, when the Phoenicians, who I believe to be descended from Ham, came around, they took over some of the sea ports of the Javanites, such as Tyre and Sidon.
This leads me to the Sea Peoples. While much seems to be myth and legend, as always, some is founded in fact. The Sea People, as they have come to be known, appear to be in part related to the descendants of Javan. Most of this is in reference to Javan’s son referred to a the Dodanim – a people group rather than one person. While not all of the “People of the Sea” are traced to this group, some have very strong ties, enough worth the interest and study. So while most of the legends became fancified with the years, as all good stories do, they were once simply maritime people with cool boats that lived within the Mediterranean.
For now, I am off to finish my research on Tubal, the fifth son of Japheth. While I am pretty sure of two places he ends up, I have yet to determine every place that might bear his name.
And with that, I am off to research some more! Hopefully soon I will have another book review I was persuaded to write more of those. Until then, blessings to you and yours,
~Rose
The Fingerprints of God 